


I'm Begging You to Keep On (Haunting Me)

by dreamsofolicity



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hallucinations, Language, Post-Episode: s05e08 Coda, bethyl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 04:38:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5078101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsofolicity/pseuds/dreamsofolicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl keeps seeing her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ten

**Author's Note:**

> This is an experimental thing. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it going. It all depends on response. I know exactly where the plot is going, so there is an endgame here.
> 
> Please just leave a comment or at the very least a kudos if you like it. I'm like a fairy. I need applause sometimes.
> 
> This takes place in 5x10. It isn't as long as I wanted, but hopefully later chapters will be much longer.
> 
> Title is from Haunting by Halsey.

Pain throbbed in his head and exhaustion weighed down his limbs and tugged at his eyelids. His mouth felt like sandpaper and his stomach twisted and ached for something substantial. But still, Daryl could not bring himself to lie down and sleep. It was all he could do to chase away the demons when he was awake. He couldn’t do anything about them if he was asleep. He thought that the lack of water was really getting to him when he heard it. The echo of a laugh, the distant sound of a piano, a sweet song about a world that was long gone. He heard Rick tell the story about what he experienced at the prison, about the voices of ghosts on a phone that couldn’t possibly work, about seeing his wife after her death. Daryl just never thought it would happen to him.

“You should sleep.”                             

Her voice made his chest ache and his eyes prick with tears that he thought he was done with. Daryl didn’t dare to look, though he wanted to more than anything in the world. Part of him almost hoped that it would go away, that she would leave him be. In the end, the temptation was too great. So he turned his head and looked, his breath catching in his throat. Her hair was messy, as always, and her face was clear of the wounds that she had when he saw her last. There was a sparkle in her blue eyes and a small smile on her lips. She had no right looking so beautiful when there was nothing but ugly in this world. Daryl was convinced of it now. Nothing as pure as Beth Greene should be in all this darkness. So why was she here?

“I’m seein’ things,” he said, his voice quiet and rough.

“Probably,” she said, leaning back against the barn wall next to him. “You shoulda taken that water.”

“Coulda been poisoned.”

Daryl picked at his dirt-lined fingernails, turning his head away. She was too bright, too beautiful. It hurt to look at her.

“This barn looks kinda like ours. At least how it used to be,” Beth told him.

He glanced around, peering up at the loft above them and the stalls along one side of the barn. From what he’d seen of the barn at the Greene family farm, she was right.

“It’s gone now,” she said softly.

“So are you.”

With a sad smile and lowered eyes, she focused on the object beside him.

“I love music boxes,” Beth said, her hand fluttering over the yellow box but not touching it.

“It don’t work,” he told her.

“You can fix it. For her.”

She nodded at Maggie where she was lying on the ground, her back to them.

“What’s the point?” Daryl asked.

“I love music boxes,” she repeated.

He stared at the box for several moments before picking it up. As he opened it, Daryl heard a soft sigh beside him.

“Ten.”

“Huh?” he said, glancing over at her.

She stared off into space, seeing something that he couldn’t. Daryl didn’t question her about it, damn sure that he didn’t want to know.

“Why are you here?”

Beth looked at him, a jumble of emotions in her eyes.

“You know,” she said, leaning her head back against the wall.

Daryl watched as she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, an action so human, so _Beth_ , that it made him ache to touch her. But he didn’t want to ruin the illusion, didn’t want to prove to himself once and for all that she wasn’t really here.

“You were right before,” he said quietly.

Beth tilted her head to the side.

“I miss you,” Daryl mumbled.

“I told you so,” Beth whispered, giving him that sad smile again.

He felt his exhaustion bearing down on him once more but refused to let his eyes slide shut, knowing she could go at any moment. Part of him wondered if this was all just a dream, if he’d fallen asleep without knowing. But there was the pain in his head, dulled by her presence but still there, and the persistent dryness of his mouth. He could feel the hardness of the ground beneath him and he could hear the patter of rain against the outside of the barn. Abraham was snoring softly and Judith was cooing in her sleep.

“You should fix it,” she told him again.

Somehow he knew it was time. Turning away, Daryl closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He refused to watch her go. He’d lost her too many times to see it happen again. Minutes passed in silence. Finally, Daryl opened his eyes and focused on the music box, pulling it open to see the problem. He didn’t say a word, didn’t make a sound. There was no point. He was alone again, silence surrounding him until a light tinkle of music came from the box in his hands. He couldn’t help but imagine her bright smile if she heard it. Daryl bit down on his cheek hard, closing the box and setting it aside. Maggie stirred and stiffened as she woke.


	2. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in 5.12 - Remember
> 
> Remember, I adore reading your comments. It fuels me.
> 
> I was wrong about the chapter length. I promise that I'll try to make the next one longer.

“You look ridiculous,” he called after Carol, still scowling as he messed with his bow.

“She looks nice.”

Turning his head, he saw her perched on the porch railing across from him, one leg pulled to her chest and the other dangling over the edge. She was completely clean, no dirt or blood in sight. The sun reflected off of her golden hair and there was a light flush in her cheeks. Her fingers drummed on the white wood.

“What do you think?” he asked, jerking his head towards the area surrounding them.

Asking a dead girl about his new living arrangement might’ve seemed strange but then again, in this world, it also could’ve been the new normal.

“I love it,” Beth said, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she looked out at the street.

Daryl felt a strange tug at his heart and took a deep breath. It was almost possible to pretend that she was really here, that they were experiencing this place together. She would’ve fit right in. He knew that for sure. No one would look at her like an outsider, with her pretty blonde hair and big blue eyes. They would trust her in an instant. Daryl could just see her taking Judith on walks around the neighborhood or putting out lemonade at one of those monthly barbeques that Aaron couldn’t shut up about on the way to Alexandria. It was how things should have been and how they could never be. When he heard her tapping the toe of her boot on the railing, he looked at her again.

“Where’d you go?” Beth questioned.

Daryl shook his head, refusing to let his emotions get the better of him this time.

“Thought it was the dehydration before, when I saw you,” he told her, focusing on his crossbow. “Didn’t think it’d happen again.”

“You wanna know why,” she said, placing her chin on her knee.

He shrugged, glancing up at her.

“Why not Maggie?” he asked.

“She doesn’t need me,” Beth told him without hesitation, as if she expected the question. “She has Glenn and Tara. You won’t talk to anyone.”

He leaned his head back against the post behind him, unable to deny her words.

“When that car drove away with you, I chased it all night long,” Daryl said.

She smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Of course you did,” Beth said, holding his gaze. “You’re a good man, Daryl Dixon.”

He swallowed hard at her words.

“Maybe you gotta keep remindin’ me sometimes.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and she took a deep breath.

“Nine.”

The word caused him to feel a jolt, like being electrocuted. Daryl knew that it was important but couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Don’t go,” he said.

Beth opened her eyes.

“I can’t stay,” she said, looking at him again. “I don’t make the rules.”

He dug his blunt nails into the palm of his hand.

“I ain’t sayin’ goodbye to you,” Daryl said gruffly.

“I’d be pissed if you did,” Beth replied, smiling at him. “I hate goodbyes.”

“I know.”

He stared at her for several moments, tilting his head in question when her nose wrinkled.

“You do need a shower.”

He scoffed, shaking his head.

“You ain’t really here, you can’t even smell.”

Beth didn’t acknowledge the implications of his words, dropping her other leg off of the railing before standing up.

“I can still tell,” she told him, smoothing out her yellow shirt.

As she did, blood smeared on the fabric, coming from nowhere. When she looked up at him, Daryl flinched when he saw blood leaking out of a hole in her forehead.

“Beth…”

She reached up, touching her fingers to the wound.

“It’s time,” Beth said softly, giving him a heart-wrenching smile.

When she glanced over his shoulder, that smile faded.

“Daryl,” someone’s voice came from behind.

He inhaled sharply, unwavering in his gaze. When she nodded at him, Daryl knew he couldn’t delay it. He turned his head reluctantly, knowing she wouldn’t be there when he looked back.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you think.
> 
> You can come talk to me on tumblr anytime. My username is historicbellamyblake.


End file.
